Kairana controversy : BJP lawmaker backtracks, says no communal issue

Hukum Singh ealier alleged a Hindu exodus from Kairana, and his statement was taken up by party president Amit Shah and hit the  national headlines.

Last week,  Singh had released a list of 346 people who he claimed have fled their homes in Kairana, a Muslim-majority town in western Uttar Pradesh, because of "threats and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community".

Speaking to NDTV, Singh said, "By mistake someone in my team mentioned Hindu families. I asked them to change that. I stick to my stand that this is not a Hindu-Muslim issue. This is just a list of people of who have left under duress."

Later at a news conference, he said, "I have asked my workers to re-verify, few names may be off the mark, but largely it's the same. It's not a communal issue, but a law and order problem."

On Monday Amit shah advised the Uttar Pradesh Government not to take "Kairana lightly".

"UP should not take Kairana lightly, it is a shocking event...the Kairana exodus is no ordinary event," Shah had said. 

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered an inquiry into the complaints of the exodus while the BJP has said it will send a fact-finding team this week to Kairana, near Muzaffarnagar.

The Congress and Samajwadi Party have accused the BJP of attempting to polarise voters by raising Kairana ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.